How I met my Chimchar
By Brandon “Knuckles” Smith
I don’t like many Pokemon, I find them to be a tool in life that you have to use to get what you need or want. I hate it when I see people get close too their Pokemon and treat them like they are pets or family or something. When I steal Pokemon with Oberon, it’s because we need it, not because I want it. Oberon and I have stolen lots of Pokemon, probably hundreds. Out of all the Pokemon we have stolen, there is only one Pokemon that I have become close with. This is the story of how I met my Chimchar ‘Destroyer’.
When Oberon and I need Pokemon, we almost always steal them. When we steal Pokemon, we usually only steal from new trainers, because they are the easiest target and require the least amount of effort. The way we find out if someone is a new trainer is Oberon challenges them to a battle. If the Pokemon they use are first stage or otherwise weak enough for Oberon to beat, then I come over and demand they hand over their Pokemon. Once we have stolen a Pokemon, we use a system we came up with to decide which of us gets to keep it. If there is more than one stolen Pokemon, we each pick one at random and whatever we pick, we keep. If there is only one stolen Pokemon, then we take turns, one theft I get it, the next Oberon gets it. It’s a fair system and one that works well for us.
One of our favorite spots to steal Pokemon is on a secluded road near the town of Sandgem. The road has plenty of tall grass and trees on both sides of it for us to hide in. The road is not a busy one, there is usually only about 4 or 5 trainers (most of which are newbies) that came through an hour. The combination of low foot traffic and abundance of hiding spots, is what makes it one of our favorite spots to steal Pokemon. When we steal Pokemon on this road, we each have a specific spot we wait at. Oberon, being the people person and the best Pokemon battler of the two of us, stands at the side of the road and engages a battle with any trainers who walk by. I, meanwhile, hide behind some trees nearby and wait for a signal from Oberon. If Oberon challenges a passing trainer to a Pokemon battle, and then defeats them, or otherwise feels their Pokemon is worth stealing, then he raises his left hand in a thumbs up. The thumbs up is the signal for me to come out and help him steal their Pokemon. I then rush out from my hiding place and order them to hand over their Pokemon, if they comply, we take the Pokemon and tell them to scram and not to call the police or else. If they don’t comply, then I either beat them up, or tackle them and take their Pokemon anyway. We have done this routine hundreds of times on that road alone and stolen many Pokemon as a result.
It was on this road, using this very strategy, that I obtained my Chimchar, ‘Destroyer’. It was a bright sunny day and me and Oberon decided to go the road to steal Pokemon. We, went to the road and got into our usual positions. Not long after we arrived, a trainer came walking down the road. As the trainer walked past Oberon, Oberon challenged him to a Pokemon battle as per our routine. I watched the battle unfold from behind the tree, the trainer had a Chimchar and Oberon had a Snivy and a Litten. The little Chimchar battled hard, knocking out Oberon’s Snivy easily. The little fire type was too hurt afterward to beat Oberon’s Litten though. One hit from Oberon’s Litten was all it took to knock it out. As the trainer called back its fainted Chimchar and conceded defeat, Oberon held up the signal. I rushed out from behind the trees and yelled at the startled trainer to hand over his Pokemon. The kid, trembling in fear at the sight of me, quickly handed over the pokeball containing his Chimchar. I snatched the ball and put it in my pocket. I then yelled at the now crying kid that if he went to the cops, I would find him and beat him up. The kid looked as if he might pee his pants as he nodded at me that he understood. I then told the kid to scram and he ran away as fast as he could.
After calling it a day, we headed to the Pokemon center in Sandgem town to heal our stolen Pokemon. Once the Pokemon were healed, we went to a wooded spot nearby and divvied up the stolen Pokemon. Since the trainer who had the Chimchar only had one Pokemon, and it had been my turn to keep the Pokemon, I got to keep the Chimchar. I released the Chimchar from it’s pokeball in order to introduce myself and begin the process of making it obey me. Once the Chimchar came out of it’s pokeball, it looked up at me confused for moment, trying to figure out who I was, as well as where its old trainer went. I gave the Pokemon a stern look and said to it in an equally stern tone of voice “My name is Knuckles, and I am your new trainer. You WILL obey me now and do whatever I say or you will be punished” I paused to take a breath and to study the Pokémon’s reaction. Normally Pokemon are scared after I introduce myself in this manner, but not this Chimchar. The little fire type gave me a mean, stubborn look. It crossed its arms and let out a stubborn “Char Char”. I then gave it a mean look back and explained to it, in a mean voice, that if it did not obey me, I would lock it in a pokeball forever and only let it out to battle a Pokemon that would kick it’s a**. This is normally enough to make the Pokemon terrified and willing to comply, but not this little guy. The Chimchar let out an angry ‘Char’ and uncrossed its arms. It noticed Oberon talking with one of the other Pokemon we stole that day, and it made a small ball of fire from the flame on its tail and threw it at the Pokemon. The Pokemon, which was a Weedle, fell backward as it was hit by the fire. Before it could get up, the Chimchar ran over to it and started punching and kicking it until it passed out. The poor Weedle tried to fight back, stinging the Chimchar with the stinger on its tail and jabbing the horn on its head into it, but the effort was in vain. The rage of the little Chimchar was no match for the Weedle, and after only a few seconds it passed out.
The attack happened too fast, and I didn’t have time to grab the Chimchar’s pokeball from my pocket and withdraw it before the Weedle passed out. By the time I had the pokeball in my hand, the Chimchar had walked back to where I was and was screeching over and over ‘CHAR CHAR CHIM CHAR CHARR CHIM CHAR!”. It also shook its little fist at me while it shrieked, as if trying to say don’t mess with me. This made me actually like the little Pokemon, its attitude matched my personality nicely and I liked that about it. I instantly respected the little Pokemon, something that had never happened with any other Pokemon up to that point. As the Pokemon continued shrieking, Oberon was yelling for me to withdraw it back into its Pokeball before it attracted attention from the nearby townsfolk. I had a better idea than simply putting the Pokemon back in its ball though. I held up my hands to the little Pokemon and said to it “Alright Alright… point taken, please just calm down ok?” The Chimchar finally stopped screeching, but still shook its fist at me.
I said to the Chimchar in my calmest, most respectful voice “You got quite the temper there little guy, I like that. You are much like me… I think we can actually get along well if you give me a chance.” The Chimchar started to calm down now, it stopped shaking its fist and instead just looked up at me with an annoyed look. I continued talking, saying to it “You gave that Weedle quite the beating, I take it you like to fight then?” The Pokemon nodded at me and I continued “Want know why they call me Knuckles?” The Chimchar stared up at me curiously and nodded. I looked the Pokemon in the eyes and began to explain “Because I also like to fight, I beat up people who don’t give me what I want and I do so without the slightest regret.” I paused letting the little Pokemon take in what I had just said, then I continued “In that regard, you and me are alike, we both like to fight and we both like to get what we want. I would love to have such a ferocious fighter such as yourself on my side.” After another pause to take a breath I held out my hand toward the Chimchar and asked “So… what do you say little guy? Want to fight together?” The Chimchar grabbed my hand and nodded. I actually smiled a little as it held on to my hand. I shook the smile away quickly, then said “Great… from this point on, we are a team.” After saying that, the Chimchar let go of my hand and quietly stood next to me.
It was then that I realized I needed to name this little guy. Normally I don’t give Pokemon nicknames, I find doing so to be stupid and childish. In this case though, I felt I actually had a bond with this little guy, so I figured it was worth making an exception just this once. I said to the Chimchar “You need a bad a** name to go with that fighting personality of yours….” I looked over at where the Weedle had passed out, and that’s when it came to me. “How about Destroyer? I think it suits you well. What do you think?” I asked the Chimchar. It gave an excited ‘Char’ as it nodded its agreement to the name. I gave Destroyer a thumbs up and said “Destroyer it is then…” For the first time ever, I felt like I actually had a Pokemon of my own and one that would be by my side no matter what. Oberon decided it was time to go, so we grabbed our stuff, and called back the stolen Pokemon back to their pokeballs. As I called Destroyer back to his ball I said “Don’t worry Destroyer, as soon as we are clear of the area, I will let you out of your ball again.” With that, I pressed the button on his pokeball and watched as it sucked him back in. Then me and Oberon left the woods and headed out to find somewhere to spend the night. And that’s the story of how I met Destroyer, one of the only Pokemon I ever became friends with.
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